Special session must be a model for coming years: Guest opinion

Senate
President Peter Courtney worried aloud about the condition of the Oregon
legislature in the wake of this month's special session. "We beat the daylight
out of each other, and I think some healing needs to take place" he told the
Oregonian.

Walk
the halls of the Capitol, and you appreciate the Senator's sentiment.
Courageous Democrats had just cut the pensions of the same nurses, teachers,
and firefighters who had knocked on doors and staffed phone banks for their
campaigns. And brave Republicans broke with party's longstanding anti-tax
orthodoxy and scripted campaign material for would-be primary challengers.

For
now, in Oregon, a rare breed of politician is still willing to put tough problems
in the middle of a table, work across party lines, hold special interests in
check, and risk a political future to advance the state.

By
Courtney's account, the legislature narrowly survived the stress test. But if
Oregonians are going to climb out the ditch we find ourselves in, the special
session is just the start. It's going to take many more of these grind-it-out
compromises that put competent, long-term policy solutions above short-term
political gains.

Our
weak condition, and the challenging times ahead, demands that special, hard
fought compromises become ordinary.

Lawmakers
didn't have to come together this fall. It would have been easier for
politicians to snub the Governor's session and retreat to grumpy town halls of
likeminded thinkers. Oregon's had a tough 15-year run, anxiety is on the rise,
and there is plenty to talk about.

This
summer, the New York Times chronicled Grants Pass and its surging crime rate,
shuttered jails, and vigilant justice. NPR's All Things Considered replayed a terrifying exchange between a
trapped domestic violence victim and a Josephine County 911 dispatcher with no
help to offer. HBO's American Winter
profiled struggling Portland families who skipped meals, boiled water out of
backyard cisterns, and stretched extension cords between houses to keep the
lights on. And, after a decade of wobbly finances and timid reforms, Education Week scored our schools in the
bottom ten nationally.

Hope
isn't lost, but it's fading fast. A just-released Oregon Values and Beliefs
Study shows less than 1 in 10 Oregonians are confident we can find common
ground, work together, and make progress on critical statewide issues.

The
terrain won't get easier anytime soon.

Oregon's
fortunes are tied tightly to fate of the US economy, which has yet to fully
recover from the 2007 recession. When recovery is achieved, three years hence,
some economists doubt income growth will ever return to the post WWII levels
that built the middle class. Technology is replacing jobs at an alarming rate,
and our education system is struggling to produce the kind of technically
savvy, problem solvers the market demands.

Demography
will add to the challenge as boomers age into their 70s and demand more medical
care. The Government Accountability Office predicts rising Medicaid spending
for elderly boomers will usher in an era of long-term deficits for states and
localities.

Needless
to say, the federal government is no better shape. A legacy of lousy
budgetmaking means that critical investments in Head Start, workforce training,
transportation infrastructure will be harder to come by.

Scarcity
will fuel a constant political urge pick up something and whack your opponent.
Already, Oregon's angry political fringes are itching for a brawl. They have
filed a pile of ballot initiatives that would pit ill-designed tax increases
against union fundraising limits. The fight would be spectacular and fund a lot
of TV advertising. Oregonians would spend the next year, and $10-$20 million,
debating counterproductive public policy. Go down that destructive path, and we
will all but guarantee our position as the underperforming, downscale state in
the middle of the West Coast.

Against
this backdrop of gloomy forecasts, we remain bullish about Oregon and its
future. We draw our optimism from what
we witnessed in Salem earlier this month and by knowing that a strong majority
of Oregonians support investments in education and infrastructure. They are
positive about the state generally.

But
to thrive in an era of scarcity, we will have draw on our every advantage. A
competent, visionary, well-functioning government is one of them. Lawmakers
have their work cut out. Oregon has an antiquated and unstable tax system that
has all but collapsed in certain parts of the state; a justice system that
spends too much money locking up non-violent criminals; and underproductive
education and healthcare sectors in early stages of reform. Oregon also has a
weakened political middle, which needs to be reengaged if we are to build on
this special session's important first steps.

So
heal up fast, legislators. You're a model for the country, and we need your
leadership.

John Tapogna is president of ECONorthwest,
an economic consulting firm. Adam Davis is the co-founder of DHM Research, a
Northwest-based opinion research firm. The views expressed here are their own
and do not represent those of their companies or their companies' clients.